Sandbag Press

How to do the Sandbag Overhead Press, using the principles of StrongFit with Dr. Sara Solomon & Jackie Perez

Use a sandbag, or something that can be held between your hands (i.e. med ball).

You will need to clean the sandbag up into the front rack position. This means you will need to deadlift it to your lap, and then explode at the hips to get the sandbag into the front rack position.

Pressing is internal torque. In this video, Jackie was increasing her awareness to her pecs by inhaling through her nose as she pressed overhead (concentrically). Remember to engage your external obliques, teres majors and pecs. Do not shrug (keep your shoulders down... so don't let them shrug up towards your ears). I like to think about pressing my hands into the sides of the sandbag to help me engage my pecs through the full range of motion. I also like to look up at the sandbag as I press it. Don't worry about pressing completely vertically or poking your head through. Just focus on keeping your pecs engaged. Jackie exhaled through pursed lips on the eccentric. You can also experiment with switching the breathing: try exhaling through pursed lips as you press overhead, and inhale through your nose as you lower the sandbag.

Dr. Sara Solomon is the creator of the Fat Loss Fast System about Intermittent Fasting and Flexible Dieting. She has degrees from McGill University in dentistry (DMD) and physical therapy (B.Sc. PT). She is also a certified StrongFit Coach, CrossFit Level 1 Trainer, ACE personal trainer, NASM fitness nutrition specialist, Mad Dogg Spinning Instructor, Level 2 Buddy Lee Jump Rope Trainer and Ambassador, a Team Bodybuilding.com and BSN athlete, and a retired PRO Fitness Model. Her passion is teaching others how to fuel and move well.